Brazil relish chance to heal scars of ‘The 7-1’

It IS a scoreline so famous that we need not mention the teams. ‘the 7-1’ is shorthand for the most extraordinary World Cup semi-final and tomorrow in Berlin, Brazil and Germany meet for the first time since Joachim Low’s team brought a host nation to its knees in Belo horizonte. the scenes remain etched into the Brazilian consciousness. On the pitch, David Luiz exited with tears streaming down his face. Manager Luiz Felipe Scolari described it as a ‘catastrophe’. the nation’s flag was burned in one square in Sao Paulo and teargas was needed to quell disgruntled Brazilians in recife. the Brazilian crowd even ironically cheered every German pass in the second half of a match in which they trailed 5-0 by half-time. the German newspaper Bild simply read: ‘7-1! Without comment!’ and the first seven pages were still images of each of the goals. On tuesday night, there will be some similarities. Neymar, dramatically injured for the semi-final, is also absent for this one. Players such as Willian, Fernandinho, Paulinho and Marcelo remain. Yet Brazil have evolved under new manager tite, new stars are emerging and there should be key roles for roberto Firmino, Philippe Coutinho and Gabriel Jesus in Berlin. this fixture has significance and the Brazilians would love to lay a glove on the Germans and end a 22-match unbeaten run that Low’s side have maintained since euro 2016. German midfielder Ilkay Gundogan said: ‘Football has almost something spiritual for Brazilians, so I can understand that 7-1 is still going strong, they live for football. ‘they have a better balance, unlike 2014. they’re the Brazil everyone knows.’ Low intends to rotate his squad heavily and Manchester City pair Gundogan and Leroy Sane will start the match.